SPIKE. Cignal’s Madz Gampong scores on a spike during their match against VNS-Nasty in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference preliminaries at the Paco Arena in Manila on April 24, 2024. The HD Spikers won, 22-25, 25-21, 26-28, 26-24, 26-24. (PVL photo)
MANILA – Defending champion Cignal goes for a sweep of the preliminaries against Maverick on Friday in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference’s rare triple-header at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The HD Spikers are on a seven-game roll, the last three were five-setters. They played the D’Navigators last week and the VNS-Nasty Griffins last Wednesday minus Bryan Bagunas, who left for Taiwan to honor a previous commitment with the Win Streak club.
“Aayusin namin yung laro namin para sa last game namin ng elimination round. Para ‘pag dating ng semifinals, maayos yung maging performance namin (We will give our all for our last game of the elimination round. So that when the semifinals come, our performance will be good),” Cignal coach Dexter Clamor said.
Joshua Umandal, Madz Gampong and John Paul Bugaon will banner the HD Spikers when they meet the Hard Hitters at 2 p.m. in the opening game.
Meanwhile, Savouge Aesthetics will try to stay in the hunt for the last two semis berths when it faces powerhouse Criss Cross at 6 p.m.
The Spin Doctors are seeking their sixth win to force a tie for the fourth and final spot for the next round.
In case of standoffs, the tiebreak system will decide the last semis entry, as PGJC-Navy and D’Navigators, both with 5-2 slates, will clash for the final game of eliminations.
Savouge head coach Sammy Acaylar is keeping a positive outlook on their chances.
“Actually, pinag-aralan na namin yan. Running kami na makapasok sa apat, so we need to watch the game of Criss Cross para mapag-aralan namin. Malay natin, bilog ang bola, hindi natin alam (Actually, we have already studied that. We are running to get into the final four, so we need to watch the game of Criss Cross to study it. The ball is round, we don't know),” Acaylar said.
VNS and Philippine Air Force will try to improve their respective records in the other game at 4 p.m. (PNA)
